Too often, the story of women’s suffrage unfolds in a vacuum, seemingly unconnected from the general contours of American history. This concluding session looks back from the present, asking experts working in a variety of disciplines and organizations to briefly unfold, TED-talk style, a single “big idea” that captures the significance of the 19th Amendment for voting rights, citizenship, and democracy today.
Moon Duchin RI ’19, associate professor of mathematics and...
The 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage and the upcoming presidential election have brought voting rights to the forefront of American politics in 2020 and have prompted important questions about legacies of disenfranchisement, especially for people of color in the United States.
Inspired by the Long 19th Amendment Project, spearheaded by the Schlesinger Library at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, this program will examine works from the collections at the Harvard Art Museums and Houghton Library that...
The upcoming US election is unlike any in recent memory. Many are afraid that this most basic process of Americans voting to select their next President may break down. In this discussion, we’ll explore what election break down could look like: a President refusing to concede, a state legislature disregarding the popular vote, a tie breaker by a Supreme Court some view as illegitimate, Congress deciding the election according to “contingent election” provisions, or something else altogether? We’ll also explore how a wide range of democracy organizations and civic networks are...
The LGBTQ community has made significant strides towards equality and progress in recent years, but has also faced renewed hostility and political setbacks. Across the country, practitioners and activists are working to mobilize a diverse coalition and encourage them to make their voices heard on Election Day. Join the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation as we discuss the priorities of LGBTQ voters and how they are being mobilized to get out and vote this November. Panelists include:
Chasten Buttigieg, Fall 2020 Fellow, Institute of...
Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston and its allies run non-partisan election protection in Massachusetts and need your help to make sure the election runs smoothly and fairly. November 3 election day volunteer roles include:
Statewide Hotline – communicate with voters to troubleshoot election-day issues from your home
Mobile Field Program – independently observe multiple polling locations for outdoor violations such as inadequate signage or long lines
Social Media & News Monitoring – monitor news and social media platforms to report...
By the early 1980s, a new political landscape was taking shape that would fundamentally influence American society and politics in the decades to come. That year, the long-standing effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—championed by suffragist Alice Paul and introduced to Congress in 1923—ran aground, owing in significant measure to the activism of women who pioneered a new brand of conservatism. The power and organizational energies of conservative women provided one more proof that the suffragists’ notion of a universal women’s voting “bloc” was an illusion. But in the Reagan era...
As we approach the final weeks of the election campaign, Secretaries of State - particularly in swing states - face tremendous pressures as they fulfill their responsibilities to provide a smooth, inclusive, and safe election that delivers a trusted result. The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation is privileged to bring together a bipartisan group of secretaries from the key swing states of Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. They will discuss the challenges they are facing, the pressures they are under, and what they are doing to make the November elections...
The passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 marked one culmination of a long civil rights movement that began in the wake of the American Civil War and gathered steam in the early 20th century, long before the Montgomery bus boycotts and the emergent leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. inaugurated the best-known phase of the movement. Designed to restore the intention of the 15th Amendment, the VRA invalidated poll taxes, literacy tests, and other prerequisites and practices that had been used to disfranchise African American women and men in the states of the former Confederacy...
Will environmentalists vote in November? Environmentalists aren't voting as much as they ought to, but recent advances in data analytics and behavioral science offer hope for 2020 and beyond. With fresh data from recent elections and mobilization experiments, voter turnout expert Nathaniel Stinnett will discuss the Environmental Voter Project's cutting-edge work identifying and mobilizing voters. Sanjay Seth MPA/MUP 2019, Co-President, Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment, will moderate.
Every election cycle, we lament low young voter turnout rates. Yet, in the last few years, young people have been at the forefront of the movements for racial justice, climate justice, gun violence prevention, and policing issues. They have taken their advocacy to the streets and to elected officials. We saw an uptick in youth voter rates in 2018. Now, will this energy translate into an even larger upswell of young voters in November?
You’re invited to join us in discussion with leading experts about the latest young voter polling data, ongoing grassroots organizing efforts, and...